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Accessible communications presentation
- 2. What is it?
- 3. Why is it important?
- 6. Advice on producing easy-read The 4 steps Message Language Format Pictures
- 10. Pictures
- 17. Get in touch! John Kay Communications & Appeals Manager Tel: 01993 866412 email: [email_address] Twitter: @AdvanceUKorg Or @positively_ Mobile: 07730 496093
Editor's Notes
- This is a definition from Change – a national organisation run by people with learning disabilities, based in Leeds. Accessible communication is information that people can understand. It means different things to different people. For some people it is information in large print or Braille. For others it might be information translated into their first language.
- According to the ODI there are more than 10 million people with a disability. There are about 1 million people in the UK with a learning disability. Around 1 in 7 people of working age are disabled Almost 1 in 2 people over state pension age are disabled So ignore it and you could be overlooking about 18% of your audience.
- Based on the things you said in my survey – thank you to everyone for responding. These are the things you wanted addressing. The thing you found particularly difficult was around cost: Comments include: Budget control - justifying the cost for a very small % of tenants (mainly around translations ) What to adapt for what cost - when is it viable? Knowing how far we should go - balancing the needs of the individual, and the organisation's desire to reach all residents, with the requirement to deliver 'value for money'. For instance, we have found that some residents who do not speak English as their first language would rather ask their friends and family to translate important documents than rely on our own translators.
- Based on the things you said in my survey – thank you to everyone for responding. Equality Act – General Equality. All public bodies listed in Schedule 19 of the Equality Act 2010 are subject to the general duty and this will include the local authorities and by extension ALMOs. In addition, any organisation which carries out a public function will be subject to the general duty. It is likely that this will include housing associations. under the Equality Act 2010 service providers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to avoid putting people with disabilities at a substantial disadvantage compared to people who are not disabled. This includes provision of auxiliary aids - including providing information in an accessible format such as braille, large print or email. TSA - all registered private and local authority providers will be subject from April 2012 to the revised regulatory framework. They must all meet the applicable regulatory standards. Customer service, choice and complaints Registered providers shall: provide choices, information and communication that is appropriate to the diverse needs of their tenants in the delivery of all standards have an approach to complaints that is clear, simple and accessible that ensures that complaints are resolved promptly, politely and fairly Understanding and responding to the diverse needs of tenants Registered providers shall: treat all tenants with fairness and respect demonstrate that they understand the different needs of their tenants, including in relation to the equality strands and tenants with additional support needs 3.1 shall demonstrate how they respond to tenants’ needs in the way they provide services and communicate with tenants. Allocations & mutual exchange Registered providers shall develop and deliver allocations processes in a way which supports their effective use by the full range of actual and potential tenants, including those with support needs, those who do not speak English as a first language and others who have difficulties with written English. Tenure Registered providers shall publish clear and accessible policies which outline their approach to tenancy management.
- Like any project, it gets easier if you break it down into constituent parts. If you follow this step-wise approach you will start thinking about your communications in a more accessible way from the start, which may help you to keep your costs down. ODI: Easy Read is a format that features simple sentences and illustrations, developed primarily for people with learning disabilities. This format is popular with most readers, including other hard to reach audiences, as it provides a succinct summary of complex information.
- It sounds obvious, but do we always consider the reader when we produce information? And stating the obvious is what a lot of accessible communication is about – stating things with clarity and in a straightforward way. How many times are we as communicators asked to participate in a project where the first action is ‘produce a leaflet’ – is starting a project 3 steps down the line? Don’t overload with detail – it might be important to you, but is it important to the reader? If it’s not essential, then don’t say it.
- Plain English principles. Consistency – ‘commence’, ‘start’, begin’. Tenant / resident / leaseholder. ‘furniture’, ‘furnishings’ Jargon – white goods. Choice-based lettings. Cyclical maintenance. Planned works. If you have to use it, provide an explanation. Idioms – ‘hook or by crook’. Raining cats and dogs. Ambiguity – avoid vagueness about time (the near future – as soon as possible). Autism demands black and white, not shades of grey.
- RNIB standard. Make it easy for people to find their way around. Think of web writing and how you would format a piece of writing for that medium. If you can’t keep to one page for your subject, start the next page with a heading like ‘More about’
- Don’t combine in and out-of focus elements in your photographs – visual overload.
- Plain English principles. Consistency – ‘commence’, ‘start’, begin’. Tenant / resident / leaseholder. ‘furniture’, ‘furnishings’ Jargon – white goods. Choice-based lettings. Cyclical maintenance. Planned works. If you have to use it, provide an explanation. Idioms – ‘hook or by crook’. Raining cats and dogs. Ambiguity – avoid vagueness about time (the near future – as soon as possible). Autism demands black and white, not shades of grey.
- PDFs will be more accessible if you have followed the previous three steps. Use headings to break your copy up, plenty of paragraph breaks; full stops at the end of bullet points will help people who use screen readers as this will give the correct inflection. ALT Tagged images in your source document will show up as they would on a website if you use Adobe Acrobat’s accessibility function.
- Think executive summaries. If you start from the position of keeping it simple, short and sweet then you may find your ‘marginalised’ easy-read version of your documents become your staple ingredients. The ODI comments “There is a common misconception that alternative formats are expensive to produce, but Braille and audio are generally inexpensive. Some alternative formats can meet the needs of your wider audience. The ODI says Keep it simple – if your initial document is: written in Clear English ; as concise as possible ; designed to be as legible as possible, for example using point 14 typeface it will already be accessible to a greater number of people and may reduce demand for alternative versions. This is a cost and time-efficient way of producing a popular alternative format, which will make your information instantly accessible to a larger number of your audience. Making your original document more accessible will reduce the need for producing alternative formats. Large print – expect to pay about £4 per page of A4 - £6 if it’s in another language. Expect to pay the same for Braille, or audio. Translation services – skills audit of staff. Reality check – is it a reasonable adjustment (eg Portugese relative wanting Annual Report)? Where is the translation coming from. Advance uses the Community Language Line service provided by the Community Languages Unit at Leicester City Council. This provides a telephone interpretation service which can be used for calls both to and from non English Speakers, and as a virtual service during meetings. Translators are subject to a screening process by LCC ad, unlike similar commercial services, are all UK residents. ‘No call, no fee’ basis. Offer of the month – Change Housing Picture Bank - £30 for a single user licence. 300 Housing-based images. www.changepeople.co.uk www.photosymbols.com – single user licence £400. 3,500 images. Flip Cameras - £90 – 150 on Amazon MP3 Dictaphones - £40 on Amazon (eg Sony ICD – PX312)
- I use i-stock.com for other images if I can’t find what I want on the various resources